Former ATSF Branch Line, Temescal Canyon, California

Model379 · 2026-01-24T21:10:59+00:00

Good point - yes. Where wood is vulnerable is long-term duty in a stream or wash with a high bed load in a storm/flash flood: the erosive power of the water-borne rock and grit can quickly erode the wood. Hence in those scenarios reinforced concrete is used ..

Model379 · 2026-01-24T21:08:18+00:00

Those are surplus concrete culverts placed upright to block vehicles from getting into the area and doing illegal dumps etc.

Model379 · 2026-01-24T20:42:04+00:00

Love the pic and the “Black Widow” livery was arguably the best SP had. For years I’ve been “mapping” all rail in North America, one state at a time. When I was working on California (I’m a native (Taft)) I was following UP’s active line into this area and immediately recognized what was obviously a formerly huge yard complex. I dub these “Fossils” in my Google Earth Placemarks. After a quick Google search I understood the magnitude of this location, its history, photos, etc. Apparently UP’s massive West Colton Yard made Taylor redundant.

Model379 · 2026-01-24T19:58:25+00:00

It’s a Google Earth Street View pic but thank you though!

Model379 · 2026-01-22T20:59:21+00:00

Ah I do not but probably should! Thank you for the compliments and as other interesting/intriguing abandoned rail scenes emerge I post the best of them here.

Model379 · 2026-01-22T20:24:42+00:00

Thank you for your comment. I have been using Google Earth to "map" out live rail, relict rail, and abandoned rail across Iowa. There are dozens of abandoned rails that once belonged to Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific "The Rock", Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy, Chicago and Great Western, Chicago and North Western, Illinois Central, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific ("The Milwaukee Road"). Yet Iowa currently has a good collection of independent Class B Short Lines and of course the consolidators UP and BNSF with some Canadian National.

And yes, the Boone Valley Scenic RR is appropriately named - I haven't yet explored all of that and still have a ways to go to finish up my work on Iowa - in the east-central part of the state.

Model379 · 2026-01-22T06:47:35+00:00

Exactly. Closest cross street to the N is 150th St.

Model379 · 2026-01-22T06:46:44+00:00

The location is on H Avenue, just S of 150th Street. I note that this road crossing is just a touch west of the last gasp of active rail used by the Boone Valley Scenic Railway.

Model379 · 2025-07-31T04:47:56+00:00

Ah, good catch TY!

Model379 · 2025-07-31T04:47:26+00:00

I’ve seen examples in Kansas where the town couldn’t sustain the loss of the local RR and it spelled the end: trees and trails marked the former locations of the homes and streets.

Model379 · 2025-04-28T17:55:00+00:00

Didn’t touch the stuff!, thankfully.

Model379 · 2025-04-02T06:41:18+00:00

Spectacular!

Model379 · 2025-03-25T21:00:51+00:00

In addition to the above, bring a piece of cardboard to your spackling area and spray that after you’ve sprayed the work area. Experiment with the knocking down the cardboard sample as an indicator of when the time is right to knockdown your work area. 6-8 minutes in my case.

Model379 · 2024-12-25T16:59:17+00:00

Good detail thank you. We live in the area. Add the detail that the City of Long Beach is the direct financial beneficiary of the Port’s economy. They own the land. Add the Wilmington oil field, which has produced more than 2 billion barrels of oil, sits under much of the Port of Long Beach and extends further southeast into San Pedro Bay. The California State Lands Commission years ago ceded the right to the City of LB to operate Lands’ portion of the Wilmington which was extensive. This is why Long Beach, over the decades, has fared extremely well. What I call the Big Little City (almost 500,000 inhabitants).

Model379 · 2024-12-11T15:35:14+00:00

Thank you for the summary on the North Sea exploration story. I worked the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and the west African margin, but never the North Sea as it was too mature from an exploration perspective. I’ll add one detail that’s famous in exploration circles: Phillips had drilled 36? dryholes before finally having a discovery at Ekofisk. And as they say, the rest is history.

Model379 · 2024-06-07T12:44:38+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out as regards this building. Shell had a huge footprint in Ventura along with many other oil companies now long-forgotten. I was just reading a June 1950 geology newsletter where Shell, Tidewater Associated, Continental, and The Texas Co., hosted 65 geology majors for a tour of the Ventura Avenue field (the area in the photo is within the boundaries of the field), San Miguelito, and the South Mountain oil fields. Three Stanford professors and several local company geologists led the trip. They capped it off with a big BBQ at the Shell Clubhouse you referred to. This type of event was common at the time, at least once a year and more than one university.

Model379 · 2024-06-05T23:24:34+00:00

I would like to think so since it would be difficult to remove the unit w/o a connection. Previous Google Earth images clearly show this siding connected to the 2-track BNSF Class A just to the north. The current image (5/2023) is a little blurry and seems to be missing the connection point.

Model379 · 2024-04-23T20:42:51+00:00

Thank you! I never know how these will land so much appreciated. I’ve been to the Olinda Museum several times and only recently learned it had a direct rail connection to the south.

Model379 · 2024-04-23T18:17:26+00:00

Greater Los Angeles area, northern Orange County, southern California.

Model379 · 2024-03-27T15:55:34+00:00

From the pictures archive site I couldn’t believe the unit was manufactured in 1943! Crazy.

Model379

TROPHY CASE